Thursday, November 23, 2017

Watercolor Meditation #2: Flow

Happy Thanksgiving!   You are one of the things I'm most grateful for.  I hope you can squeeze in a moment of peace and quiet today.   If you need an excuse, here's another meditation.

I hope you had fun last week with the first of my Watercolor Meditations on Observation.  This second one is about going with the flow.   I need that today!   Ok, I need that a lot of days.


Watercolor Meditation:  FLOW


Take a deep breath.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Relax your shoulders. Relax your arms and hands.

Breathe. You are going to have so much fun!

The purpose of this meditation is to enjoy watching paint and water move down the paper and mingle. You're creating your own waterfall.

Gather your materials:

You will be able to use these few materials for all of the activities in the series.

  • Watercolor pigments: Tubes, pans, or sets. Whatever is easy for you to get and use. Make sure you like the colors. [You can also use coffee or tea if that's all you have close by.] If you have tubes, then you'll need an old plate or lid to use as a palette. 
  • Paper: Any size mixed media paper or watercolor paper. Thicker watercolor paper won't buckle if you decide to use a lot of water in one of these activities. You'll need at least one sheet for each activity, but you'll probably have so much fun with some of these that you'll just keep playing. 6 x 6 inches or so is a nice size. Big enough to play, but not be too intimidating. If you have larger paper and want to cut it down, go right ahead. [You can also use a napkin if that's all you have close by.] 
  • Brush: Any watercolor brush will do. Size 8 or 10 round is good for starters. [You can also use a straw, spoon, etc. if that's all you have close by.] 
  • Water jar: To clean your brush in. A recycled food jar is great. Pint sized is great. 
  • Paper towels or plate to catch drips and things as they flow.


    MEDITATION:  FLOW


    1. Swish your brush around in the plain water. Get it good and wet. 
    2. Tilt your paper or prop it up so that things can flow down the paper. You can hold it over a plate or paper towel to catch drips if you like. 
    3. Starting at the top of the paper, brush the clear water on and OBSERVE it as it FLOWS down the paper. 
    4. Get your brush wet again, choose your favorite color and get some of that paint on your brush. Don't worry about how much. You can't do this wrong. 
    5. Put the paint in the water at the top of the paper and watch it flow down the paper. 
    6. Try it again in a different place. Keep your brush wet. 
    7. Try it again with just clear water. Get your brush wet, touch it to the top of the paper and let the clear water flow down the paper pushing the paint aside. 
    Now play. You can't do it wrong.

    Try it with a lot of paint to get dark colors and just a little to get light colors.

    Every once in a while you can let plain water flow down the paper, too.

    When you're done, lay it down and let it dry.

    Thanks so very much for spending some time with this today.  I hope you've used this meditation to relax and put some calm in your day.  If you have a question, observation or photo you want to share, I'd love to hear from you!

    See all of my classes here.


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